In the far future of Mass Effect, the existence of alien life is a given, with Turian, Hanar and Asari intermingling with humans for decades. EA thinks that there's Life Out There and it also thinks that the British government is covering up knowledge of the little grey men who've visited our little mudball.

Or something like that.

Several Kotaku readers have sent in word of a petition—seemingly linked by this EA promo page—on the U.K. government's website demanding investigation and disclosure of extraterrestrial activity. Now, because anyone can start a petition, it's unclear how direct the linkage between EA and this one may be. Basically, it's a subplot straight out of the X-Files. But, the very real repercussion here is the possibility that, if this e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures, it could be debated in the House of Commons.

Look, EA: there are many pressing issues in the British Empire right now. The Greek debt crisis, NHS reform and the upcoming Olympics that London's hosting. Creating a fake groundswell of hype for a big-budget video in the halls of government just seems tacky. But EA's been here before, remember?

This smacks of the wanna-be-controversial campaigns EA mounted for Dante's Inferno and Dead Space 2. At the end of the day, those efforts at buzz-building didn't prevent the games at their centers from being what they were. An enquiry into aliens? That just seems desperate, guys.